DISCOVER-AQ: California Aircraft Trace Gas Measurements for Satellite Validation

California's San Joaquin Valley deployment of NASA's DISCOVER-AQ campaign collected in situ trace gas data onboard a P-3B aircraft in 2013. The data was gathered using instruments including DACOM, TD-LIF, DFGAS, LICOR-6252, Picarro G2103, and PTR-MS to validate satellite observations of near-surface pollution. The campaign was conducted by NASA Langley, Goddard, and Ames Research Centers with university partners to improve air quality monitoring.

Use Cases

• Validate satellite column observations of ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and formaldehyde based on in situ aircraft measurements.
• Analyze diurnal variability of trace gases based on surface-level and airborne data.
• Model urban plume dynamics and pollution gradients based on horizontal variability measurements.
• Correlate surface pollution concentrations with atmospheric column data based on spiral profiling.
• Assess factors contributing to near-surface pollution in violation of NAAQS based on targeted regional data.

Strengths

• Data collection is complete for the California deployment.
• Measurements were made using a variety of specialized instruments (DACOM, TD-LIF, DFGAS, LICOR-6252, Picarro G2103, PTR-MS).
• Campaign involved coordinated airborne and ground-based observations across multiple NASA centers and universities.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the San Joaquin Valley focus.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

In situ measurements collected onboard a P-3B aircraft during spiral profiling.

Time Range

2013

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 03:21:58.693911; freshness should be verified.

Geography

San Joaquin Valley, California